Safe in His Arms
by Ari Vela
Summary: London is coming. FINISHED. Thanks to STC and Toni. Dedicated to Cookie044 and Atlanta Enchanted.
1. Back to Fort Brydon

Rick had watched the sun set intently, his eyes still on the same horizon that the sun had disappeared behind hours before. Jonathan mumbled in his sleep as they made their way across the desert. Evelyn was resting gently against him; he could feel her rhythmic breathing. He smiled to himself as she shifted slightly in her sleep, her head resting against his broad shoulder and her face nestled safely against his neck. He pulled his free arm slowly around her waist, holding her gently. As the camel walked lazily across the sand, they swayed. Rick's thoughts began to wander to what had happened that morning, remembering the resurrected Imhotep standing over Evelyn, holding a dagger high above his head ready to plunge it into her heart... and then her painful scream. He winced painfully and the bottom fell out of his stomach, feeling like he had almost been too late. Yet here she was, safe in his arms, sleeping serenely as if nothing bad had ever happened. She moved and he felt her nose caressing his jawline. The light feeling returned to his stomach, but this time for different reasons. A silent smile graced his lips as he held her a little tighter. Here she was... safe in his arms. This time, he felt that risking his life was worth it.

Evelyn's eyes flickered open as the sunlight flooded over the sands and chased away the darkness. She blinked sleepily and looked up at Rick, who hadn't noticed she had awoken, and smiled.Wandering thoughts momentarily led her back to Hamunaptra and what had happened there. She thought about how Rick had come back for her, how dazed they were after watching the city sink beneath the sands, and how she felt when he had kissed her. Jonathan's voice echoed in her head... "_Well... I guess we go home empty-handed... again" ... _then Rick's voice "_I wouldn't say that..."_ Turning to look at him, their eyes met in that gooey love way that you only read about in romance novels. But she embraced the feeling as they kissed, letting emotion reign over logic for once in her life. She had no regrets.

Her soft British voiced appeared in Rick's ear. "Good morning," it said as her arms pulled her tighter to him. Rick smiled and looked at her. "Morning," he murmured, his hand tracing across her back.

"Where are we?"

"Almost there..."

She nodded, her fingers dragging along his sides. In the long and dizzying trail of her thoughts, her mind suddenly became plagued with an offsetting reality. Although her feelings for Rick were still fresh in her heart, she was afraid that they would fade once they stepped out of the desert bubble and into another reality. Rick wasn't your ordinary man. He was... intense. Was that the word she was looking for? She supposed it was. He was sort of elemental, and not like every other man she had ever met. He was everything he needed to be without the circumstance of society dictating his thoughts or actions. Raw and rugged, yet somewhere along the way she noticed that he had something else that surpassed that. He was a good man. He seemed less interested in his own life when others were in danger. She found the word... compassion. She didn't want to let that go... she needed him...

"What are you thinkin' about?" said a soft, baritone voice above her.

"Just... what home's going to feel like after this..." she said, not telling him that it was he who would make the difference. She felt his arm wrap around her, and shelet her head fall gently onto his wide shoulder... and despite Jonathan's comments on how much he hated camels ("filthy buggers!")... she got lost in that feeling of wanting time to stand still for awhile...

They arrived in Cairo later that day, Jonathan was still having trouble making his camel obey. The camel that Rick and Evelyn were riding collapsed it's legs in and laid on the ground. Rick slid easily off and turned to face Evelyn, who was still perched atop the camel's back with two legs over on one side. Rick stretched his arms upward and placed them on Evelyn's hips to help her down. She smiled gratefully and rested her hands on his shoulders for balance. She slid off the camel's back. As her weight went forward into his arms, Rick's hands slid slightly up her torso and rumpled the fabric of her nightgown. Her feet hit the ground softly, Rick's hands still clamped on her hips, holding her gently with her hands still gripping his shoulders. She looked up to say thank you and her eyes were met with his once again... He smiled, almost laughing at the same time. He began to pull her hips forward a bit as she leaned in, their lips almost touching when they were then startled by a thud on the ground which was followed by "ARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!" and then "you stupid...!" Rick and Evelyn wheeled around their own camel and found Jonathan sprawled out on the ground and a disgruntled-looking camel. He jumped up suddenly waving his arms in the air in anger...

"I ought to..."

"Jonathan?"

"You filthy b..."

Rick chuckled slightly, shaking his head.

"Bloody hell!"

Jonathan took a few deep breaths after kicking sand at the animal. The camel looked particularly indignant, spitting as Jonathon walked away. He turned around to see Evelyn and Rick looking at him with amused expressions.

"What are you looking at?" He said, in an angry, but distinctly British accent.

"Oh nothing..." Evelyn said, not bothering to conceal her laughter.

Evelyn walked into the library she had once organized and catalogued. The shelves were toppled over and books were littered over the floor. She walked carefully across the room and when she reached the high counter, she turned and looked around, sighing heavily at the same time.She took a hard look around the library as she lifted herself onto the counter and sat, her hands perched on the edges as she swung her dangling feet. She heard shuffling across the floor and looked up. She smiled as Rick made his way towards her, wearing his one-sided smirk. He approached the counter that Evelyn was sitting on, he put his hands on either side of her and leaned on his arms.

"Looks like you're gonna be busy here for awhile." Rick said. Evelyn nodded, eyes wandering around the destroyed library and then settling back on Rick's gaze. She smiledagain and slid off the counter, Ricks arms still on both sides of her and propped on the counter.

"Yes... that seems to be the circumstance..." She said, her eyes still staring deep into Rick's. He felt her imploring him, feeling as if she was trying to read his thoughts like the books she always had her nose buried in.

"Then I guess I'll have to hang around awhile..." he said, a slight smile hanging around his words. Evelyn laughed gratefully. Rick surrounded her with his arms, locking her in. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, letting him kiss her. Softly at first, but then it grew more passionate. _No regrets... _she told herself.


	2. Realizations

The kiss grew more passionate as the seconds passed, and Evelyn could feel herself getting carried away. She pulled away gently and let out a deep breath. Her head was still spinning. Rick saw the look on Evelyn's face and couldn't help but smile. His hands rested on her hips, he gave them a bit of a squeeze and pulled her in. Their foreheads touched affectionately, they both smiled and laughed slightly. She tightened her arms around his shoulders and kissed him once more. Was this what it was supposed to feel like?

Evelyn would be staying in Cairo for the next few weeks, re-organizing the ruined library ("Just how I left it") and making sure all was well at the museum. Of course, Jonathan would be staying as well. "I have to take care of my dear, sweet baby sister!" he would say to Evelyn as she rolled her eyes at him, laughing appreciatively at the same time. They would be staying at the Fort Brydon for however long. Evelyn had decided that once things were straightened out and in relatively good order for the new curator, she wouldn't stay at the library like she had for the past few years. For one, the Bembridge scholars had taken much more of an interest in her after her return from Hamunaptra with a bag full of artifacts... namely gold pieces of the pharoah Seti's treasure. Now, Evelyn was never really one to lose her composure. But her excitement boiled over as she mauled her brother with a tight hug and then proceeded to jump intoRick's arms, laughing blissfully. She was so wrapped up in her new status with Bembridge and showing the new curator how the library was "coded and catalogued" and making sure that he was comfortable enough with the state of things at the museum before she left him to his position alone, that she had not noticed that painful worry that reflected deep in Rick's eyes whenever she mentioned something about Bembridge scholars or wondering what she would do after her work at the museum was done. Do not misunderstand, it was not as if she was not spending time with Rick. She was and enjoying every minute of it. Their time together just never seemed like enough. Rick was becoming aware that he needed her and was worried about losing her. The feelings that had started their roots in the sands of Egypt had grown beyond even Rick's imagination. Would he call it love? He supposed so... Rick loved Evelyn...

Rick's eyes snapped open and he sat bolt right up in bed, his sheets and covers toppling down to his bent waist. He had been drifting off, letting his thoughts carry him into a deep sleep... but this moment of truth he had just had with himself startled him. Did he just think about loving Evelyn? Even though he had just admitted it to himself, he still couldn't believe it. He sat up all the way and placed his elbows on his knees and buried his face into his hands. In the midst of these dangerous thoughts of loving and possibly losing Evelyn, what was he doing to himself? He had never loved anyone, not even the parents he had never known. Of course he had very strong feelings for Evelyn, he would have even told you that. But he just... didn't love, even though this man always seemed to have a silent compassion that showed when others were in danger, maybe he hadn't noticed. But he kept telling himself that he had never loved, so how could he know what it felt like? And therefore how could he know that he loved Evelyn? He then suggested to himself that maybe it was just something you knew when you felt it. He lifted his head out of hands and laughed once in disbelief. He was going to be honest with himself... He loved Evelyn. He laid back downand turned over on his side, his back sliding over the sheets as his head sunk into his pillow. He just laid there in silence, staring blankly out the window and into the dark night in disbelief. He loved her... He couldn't believe he was admitting it to himself, yet he knew it was true. He then wondered if it was easier to fight giant bugs and destroy evil resurrected mummies than tell a woman that he loved her... he drifted into an uneasy sleep, unsure of what was supposed to happen next.

The next day, Evelyn had woken up fairly late. The curator wanted to tend to the museum today by himself, to get a feel for running it without Evelyn's help. She tripped into the bar of Fort Brydon, rubbing her eyes sleepily, wearing her usual librarian attire with her hair falling gracefully around her face and flowing over her shoulders. She had a positively dreamy expression on her face.Yet when she looked around and didn't see Rick sitting in the bar, a look of slight disappointment spread across her face. She heard a voice from the far left. It wasn't Rick, but seeing the owner of the cheerful British voice brought a certain amount of joy that only he could bring.

"Hello, Darling!" the voice had said.

"'Morning, Jonathan..." she chimed in happily.

"Ah, you mean afternoon."

"What?" Evelyn gasped incredulously.

"Yes, baby sister... it is now... 12:03..." said Jonathan, looking longingly at a man's pocket watch that he had spotted and read the time off of. Evelyn laughed and crashed into a seat next to her older, yet irresponsible, brother. She might complain about him, but she wouldn't trade him for anything. Despite Jonathan's many flaws, he was the only one (before she had met Rick) that could plaster a smile on her face for days, he never failed to make her feel better, even in the presence of circumstances that could drive anybody insane with sadness. He might be one of the best pickpockets she had ever known, but he was also the greatest friend she had ever been blessed with.

"Jonathan..." Evelyn laughed in mid-sentence, "What would I do without you..."

"You'd probably be eaten by giant bugs or something..." Jonathan said carelessly while refilling his shot glass with whiskey. She scoffed and added quickly "Sure, Jonathan... whatever you say... One thing's for sure... I'd die of boredom!" Evelyn had rejected the offer for an alcoholic drink politely but had been handed a glass of water. She had no desire to become any more animated than she might have been at the moment with the inducement of alcohol, but she was dead thirsty. She began to gulp the water almost savagely. Jonathan smiled at his sister's disregard for any manners. No one in the bar seemed to care, but Jonathan was quite amused.

"You..." said Jonathan, still smiling, "are a strange one..." Evelyn set down the half-drained glass. With a sly smile, she wiped her mouth on her sleeve, not really caring who was watching or what anyone thought. She was in complete bliss... or it could have been a good night's sleep... or both.

"Oh, like you have room to talk!" laughed Evelyn, gripping the glass on the counter. Jonathan chuckled and shook his head while draining his own shot glass.

"So..." he started as he refilled his shot glass again, "looking for O'Connell, were you?"

"No..." Evy lied, trying to hide a smile, "what makes you think that?"

"I saw that disappointed look on your face," Jonathan chuckled as he knocked back the whiskey in the glass. "I know you were looking for him."

Evelyn laughed. "Sure... whatever you say, Jonathan..." she said innocently as she lifted the glass up to her lips and began sipping slowly but continuously.

"So..." Jonathan said casually, refilling his glass for a third time, "You love this guy, O'Connell, right?" He referred to Rick as if he was some stranger he had only met once or twice, but he meant it to irk his sister. He was startled when his baby sister coughed into her water glass, almost choking on a mouthful of water. She gasped for a second, gripping the edge of the counter as she regained her breath.

"What?" She sighed, not believing the accusation her brother had just made.

"What?" Jonathan exclaimed, wondering what he had said that made her so breathless. "You love the man, don't you?" he questioned as if it was a conversation they had a million times before.

"Well... I... I..." Evelyn stuttered, "I... Jonathan don't be stupid! Certainly I have feelings for the man but... Love him?" She seemed to be having trouble collecting her thoughts. Love Rick? She wouldn't deny that she very rarely felt this way about anyone, and that he was absolutely one of the best men she had ever known, but love him? This was nonsense. She didn't just hand out love like party favors. She hadn't even thought about it. Sure, once you got past his rough exterior there was a compassionate man willing to lay his life on the line for your own... and sure, how many men would take on a 3,000-year-old mummy, who was immortal, mind you, to save the life of a girl that didn't directly affect his own life? What was she saying... Rick was no ordinary man and she was thinking about these things as if they were just favors of a good friend. And indeed, they had formed a great friendship... relationship... she didn't know what to call it. She then remembered that she had saved his life... was he just returning the "favor"? Or was there more to it? Who would gamble their own life to save her when the situation seemed almost hopeless? Rick did... no one else (excluding Jonathan... and Ardeth... but he also had the whole Medjai obligation thing... ). After that she has spent so many nights thinking about him. Not the Bembridge scholars... or about museums and libraries... but about Rick. He had taken her breath away so many times just by being with her... was this love? Is this what it was supposed to feel like? How stupid could she be? She had fallen in love and hadn't realized it... She was in love with Rick... in love with Rick. Her jumbled thoughts were interrupted by Jonathan's voice...

"Yes, Evy, love him... don't deny it!" He pointed his finger accusingly at her.

Evelyn had a struck look in her eyes, looking incredulous and dazed. She quickly reached for the shot glass that Jonathan was about to gulp down and snatched it away.

"Hey, that's mine!" Jonathan wined as Evelyn drained it in one swallow, she clunked the glass hardly on the bar with a sickened look on her face...

"Blech..." she said, shaking her head. She straightened up... she loved Rick. She admitted to herself, fully and truthfully, and it felt great. She was again interrupted by Jonathan grumbling about his stolen whiskey as he snatched it back and began refilling it for a fourth or fifth time, Evelyn had lost count.

"So Evy..."

"I love him..." she said, smiling

"Good for you!" he said, raising his glass in a toast, "Cheers!"

"Oh my God..." Evelyn just realized something.

"What?" Jonathan swallowed the remaining whiskey and pushed aside the bottle.

"Jonathan... what am I going to do?"

"What do you mean, dear girl?"

"What am I supposed to do?

"Again, I'll say it... what the hell do you mean, Evy?"

"How am I supposed to let him know? Do I tell him? What if he doesn't love me back?" She was rambling on with a worried tone. Jonathan put down the whiskey glass and grabbed her by both shoulders and shook her a bit.

"Come on, woman! Don't be stupid!" he shot her remark back at her with a smirk, "Of course he loves you!"

"How can you be so sure?" Evelyn sounded hurt at the thought of Rick not returning her feelings.

"Aren't you supposed to be the intelligent one?" He scoffed and shook his head with a hint of laughter in his voice. "The man chased that crazy bald guy back to Hamunaptra to get you! When we stepped into a room with mountains..." his expression saddened, "and I do mean MOUNTAINS of treasure, he wouldn't stop. He was bound and determined to do what was needed to get you back." His expression was serious, but he was also smiling, "He didn't stop until the high priest whatever-his-name-is was sinking into that weird black water. Then he practically dragged you out by the hand. Evy, don't be so naive! What man would be stupid or crazy enough to do a thing like that for a woman unless he loved her! And now he totters by your side... and you do the same to him! You two are constantly seeking each other's company. And even as it is a bit sickeningly sweet at times, there's no denying that you love him... and there is no doubt in my mind that our American ex-legionnaire is feeling the same way, he just hasn't built up the courage to tell you yet. I'd wager all the money in the world if I had it..." He added that last part a bit gloomily. Evelyn had silent tears welling up in her eyes and a look of absolute disbelief. She did not give her brother enough credit. He had known she was in love before she even realized it, and now he made more sense in one conversation than he had ever made in his entire life. She had a mixture of pride in her brother's reasoning and a sick feeling in her gut that was apparently the result of figuring out that she loved someone... and being unsure of what was going to happen next. _I love him, _the thought echoed in her head a thousand times... then the thought that scared her most... _What now?_


	3. No Regrets

Rick had woken up ages earlier than Evelyn that day. For the past few hours he had been wandering around Cairo. He had stopped by the museum to see Evelyn because he hadn't known that she wouldn't be there. He had only briefly run into the strange-looking curator who quickly informed him that she wouldn't be coming in. He left the museum slightly disappointed and wasted away a few more hours by walking around the city, trying desperately to gather his thoughts about Evelyn. Or even just to think about anything else... he simply couldn't. He had come back to the fort when he decided that he wanted a drink, so he wandered into the bar and stopped in the doorway to look around. Not to his surprise, he saw Jonathan with a whole bottle of something and a shot glass. But then he saw Evelyn, smiling about something. He smiled as well. Jonathan spotted Rick and looked at Evelyn, who obviously hadn't noticed. He shook his head at her obliviousness in the midst of thoughts that were undoubtedly about O'Connell himself.

"Evy..." Jonathan said in a hissing whisper. Evy snapped from another garbled train of thought and gazed at Jonathan with a look that just screamed 'I have no idea where I am.'

"Hmm?" Evy replied as Jonathan coughed and cleared his throat violently. He jerked his head in Rick's direction right before he gulped down some more whiskey.

"Oh!" She exclaimed in a whisper. Rick made his way to the section of the bar where Evelyn and Jonathan sat, and she could feel herself brimming with uneasiness. Evelyn couldn't believe she was nervous... she had already been through quite a few life-altering moments with this man. What did she have to lose? Everything... what if he didn't love her back? Despite Jonathan's reasoning... she still had her doubts. Mind you, it was not because of Rick. He gave her no reason not to believe that he loved her, because any fool could see that he did. It was because when you desperately want or need something... or rather when you desperately love someone, you become afraid of losing them. Rick stopped a few feet in front of her, and Evelyn sat in the presence of his undying smile.

"Er..." She mumbled.

"Hey..." He said, his baritone voice softening when he spoke to Evy. He bent down and kissed her gently while taking a seat next to her.

"Well, aren't you two just sickeningly cute." Jonathan said in a sarcastically disgusted tone. Rick raised and eyebrow and retorted with nothing more than an insincere "A-ha-ha-ha". Evelyn laughed at the two of them. They prodded each other every now and again, but she liked to think that they had a mutual yet silent respect for one another... and they did. But the reason they did was because they both loved Evelyn in their own way. Jonathan in his strange brotherly way and Rick in every other way imaginable.

"You two..." Jonathan shook his head as Evelyn watched him furtively. "You should just say it!" Jonathan wasn't quite drunk yet, but he had enough alcohol in him to impair his judgement. Evelyn was looking at him with a fierce fear planted on her delicate face.

"Say what?" Rick asked casually, looking at Jonathan a bit confused.

"Go on... Evy loves..." Jonathan stopped as he saw the intense hurt in his sister's eyes... she apparently wasn't ready for Rick to know. He had said Evy loves something... he meant to say Rick... but he couldn't say that... so...

"Socks!" He finished...

"What?" Rick and Evy said together...

"Evy just adores them!" Jonathan said, slurring his words on purpose, acting more drunk than he really was. Evelyn realized what her brother was doing and jumped in...

"Yes... hmm... socks..." She said with a weak laugh... trying to play along, obviously not doing well.

"Right..." Rick said, looking at each of them suspiciously. "Evy, you hungry?"

"Yes!" Evy said, desperate to get out of the bar.

"Ok..." Rick looked around, "Do you want to go now?"

"Erm... do you mind if I change?"

Rick nodded and they both walked up the stairs towards her room. They walked in relative silence, Evelyn's fingers entwined with Rick's as they climbed the stairs.

"I'll be out in a few..."

"Ok... I'll be waiting downstairs..."

Evelyn nodded with a smile as she slipped into behind the door of her room and let it close with a quiet click. She sat on the bed for a second, realizing that she was dead tired, even though she had a good night's sleep. She let herself fall backwards, her head hitting the pillows with a cushioned thud. Her mind began racing, all with thoughts about one thing... or rather one person...

Rick wasn't sure how long he had been waiting at the bottom of the stairs, but it felt like a good hour. He decided to go and see what was taking Evelyn so long. He trudged up the steps and stopped outside her door, knocking softly.

"Evelyn?" he murmured as he rapped on the door. When she didn't answer, a twinge of worry shook him. He knocked a bit louder, "Evy?" She didn't answer again. He turned the doorknob slowly, it was unlocked. He pushed the door open quietly while saying her name, "Evy?" He saw her figure laying atop the covers on her bed, he could see her body moving up and down with rhythmic breathing, her hair was still free of a bun and spread across the pillows. He smiled slightly, shaking his head. She had fallen asleep. He walked around the bed and sat on the edge next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and shaking her gently.

"Evy... Evelyn, wake up..." he said gently as she stirred under his hand. He put his hand on the comforter on the other side of her body so that he was leaning over her. He bent down to her ear and whispered the same words.

"Evy, wake up..."

Evelyn's eyes opened slowly and the first thing they saw were Rick's blue eyes, then his characteristically lop-sided smile came into focus. She loved that, she couldn't think of anything better to wake up to. She smiled sleepily and took a deep breath in as she slowly lifted herself up. Now she was sitting, her face now a few inches away from Rick's, who was still smiling at his sleepy companion. Rick's arm was still over her, his hand resting somewhere near her hip.

"'Morning..." he said playfully.

"Ha-ha" Evy said with a smile... "I'm so sorry, Rick... I must have drifted off..."

"You did." He said, smiling as she hit him playfully on the shoulder while yawning.

"Yes, I'm aware of that, thank you." She retorted.

"Do you still want something to eat?"

"Actually, I'm still a bit tired and I'm not really that hungry." Her lack of appetite had ensued when Rick came around right after her discussion with Jonathan, rattling her nerves. It had been an interesting day to say the least... and she had only been awake for a few hours.

"Oh..." Rick sounded slightly disappointed... not that they weren't going to eat, but because Evelyn didn't seem interested in just spending a bit of time with him. He smoothed his hand over his hair casually, his hair being wiped back right beforeit fell back into place. "Then I guess I'll just come by later..." He turned on his heel to go but before he could take another step...

"You can stay if you want..." Evelyn had said boldly, her heart thumping as she said it.The connotations tied to having a man in your room for more than a few minutes didn't seem to cross her mind when she said this. All she knew at the moment was that she desperately wanted him to stay, to just lay with her and hold her for awhile. It was a simple wish, but that's truly all she wanted. Rick looked a bit taken aback, but after a moment or two his lopsided smiled spread across his face again as he nodded and said "Ok". After a second or two, he crawled onto the bed next to her. What Evelyn didn't know is that it was also all he wanted, just to lay there and hold her. Evelyn didn't scream or kick him off of the bed as any unmarried young woman with a man in her bed might have done. She just smiled and moved close to him when he was near enough. She laid her head on his broad shoulder and her arm stretched across his wide chest. He wrapped his own arm instinctively around her middle. Their legs became slightly entangled. He took her hand in his and held it, just rubbing it with his thumb.

"Rick?" Rick heard Evelyn's voice emit from the base of his neck.

"Hmm?"

"I realized something important today..." she said in a surprisingly casual way.

"Hmm...?"

"I..." She had just realized that it wasn't as easy to say as she'd hoped. She sighed, defeated.

"What?" He said softly... "I thought you were going to tell me."

"I thought I was too... I had hoped so anyway..." She mumbled, thinking out loud.

"Evy... what are you...?"

"I don't know... I'm sorry..."

"For what?" His voice still soft, but curious.

She shrugged, shaking her head at the neat little hole she had just dug herself.

"I... just... Dammit, Rick!" She exclaimed in a whisper, but laughing once at the same time. Only he could do that to her... make her unable to finish a sentence or speak her thoughts.Why was sheso worried he would turn away?

"Dammit, Evy!" He mimicked playfully, his voice still soft. He laughed gently at her frustration and turned his head to face hers, so that their faces lay parallel on the pillows about an inch apart. "Just say what you want to say, Evy... I won't get up and walk out... It would take alittle more than that to get rid of me... Nice try, though." As Rick laughed once very softly, Evelyn's breath caught in her throat. He had just dismissed her greatest fear... he said he wouldn't get up and walk out... that he wouldn't turn away, there was nothing stopping her now. She wished she had some fancy words to describe her feelings, something more than "I love you..." but... what could she say?

"I love you..." she didn't stumble over her words as she had expected, she said it in a hushed whisper and the words didn't seem to have any spaces between them. Rick's eyes widened...

"What?" He said softly, not sure he heard her right...

"I... love you..." She said slowly, but certainly, without a trace of doubt or regret in her voice, although she had clenched her eyes shut when she said it. She slowly opened her them and Rick was just looking at her with an expression on his face that was impossible to read. Evelyn wondered what he was thinking... waiting hopefully for the reaction she wanted. Rick's eyes softened as they settled on her face.

"Evy..." he said, almost breathlessly.

Evelyn sat up, her legs still tangled with Rick's and took a deep breath. "There... I said it! You told me to say it and I did... and I mean it. I mean it with everything I have." She had said as she looked down at him, he still had that inscrutable expression, but his face was slowly beginning to soften... or at least that's what she thought. She was becoming worried again and her words were bunched together without much breath between them. She added somewhat indignantly... "You told me to say it, Rick. To tell you what I was thinking... and I did..." she wasn't sure what she wanted to say, she was becoming more tense. "I... you... I said..." Rick sat up and put one hand on Evelyn's neck, his thumbtouching her face as he pulled her in and kissed her. It might have been the most passionate kiss they had shared so far, even more so than the one after Rick had rescued Evelyn from Imhotep at Hamunaptra. Rick was holding her in a strong embrace and Evelyn's hands had planted themselves on his chest. They broke apart slowly, Evelyn looked a bit dazed. Rick smiled. Still holding her, Rick gently pressed his forehead against Evelyn's.

"I did say that... I just wasn't expecting..." Rick broke off, his smile stubbornly refusing to fade. He was afraid he would wake up seconds from now and find himself in his own bed alone.

"So do you want to tell me what's going on in that head of yours?" Evelyn said, running a playful hand through his hair."It's only fair... a thought for a thought?"

Rick laughed a bit. They were still sitting on the bed, legs entwined and Rick holding her and Evelyn's hands resting on his shoulders, their foreheads touching lightly.

"Evy... I love you..." He didn't choke on his words. He said it slowly and smoothly. "I love you" was said a lot, sometimes the speaker not really meaning the context of the sentence. But here, with Rick and Evelyn holding each other just because they wanted to be with the other, meant each word with everything they had. Here, the phrase meant everything it said and more. After hearing Rick say these words, she broke out into a soft but happy laughter. They kissed again... and again. They ended up spending hours in that bed, just laying there, holding each other. No impure thoughts or ulterior desires, just the need to be with one another. Evelyn might have fallen asleep at some point, but Rick didn't care. There she was... safe in his arms...

Rick's thoughts carried him as he held Evelyn's sleeping body close to him. He kept replaying the incident in his head, still not believing it wasn't a dream. Rick drifted off, with the smell of Evelyn's hair fresh in his nose and the love he felt for her still very much alive in his heart.


	4. Slipping Away

The hours passed by as Rick and Evelyn held each other in their sleep. The clear desert day faded into the darkness of night, bringing the cold that naturally came with it. Jonathan had passed out in his own room about an hour before, sleeping rather peacefully on the floor. In her own room, Evelyn woke. Her eyes flickered open, taking a moment or two to become accustomed to the dark. The grandfather clock in the corner told her that it was very early morning, they had been asleep for hours. She felt Rick's arms around her, and then she remembered what had happened, the confessions of undying devotion they had exchanged the day before. She would be returning to work at the museum for maybe a day or two more, then she would have to figure out what would happen next. Whatever did happen and whatever she decided to do, she wanted Rick there. She pulled her arms a bit tighter around him and inched herself closer, making it impossible for there to be any space between his slumbering body and her own. She felt him shift a bit in his sleep, but he managed to bring his arms just a bit tighter around her middle. They were both still fully dressed because the endless nap had been an accident, Rick in his cotton pants and shirt and Evelyn still in her librarian-ish fashion of a long khaki skirt and white cotton skirt. She had abandoned the process of putting her hair in a bun lately, she wasn't exactly sure why. Her hair surrounded the pillows, her face was nestled safely into Rick's neck. It was still dark outside, she would be leaving in a few hours to go to the library to work out her final duties. Feeling safe in Rick's arms, she let herself drift back into a light sleep that remained uninterrupted until later that morning.

One of Evelyn's eyes popped open and was immediately stung by the surge of daylight that now surrounded her room. Her other eye flinched open as she looked in the direction of the grandfather clock in the corner... 7:09. She would have to be at the library in about an hour and a half. She yawned lazily, not wanting to leave the comfort of Rick's arms. She laid there, thinking for a good while before she decided that she had better clean up a bit. She rolled over as easily as she could, so as not to disturb her slumbering American ex-legionnaire. She smiled once before kissing him lightly on the cheek. She slipped out of his arms effortlessly and decided she had enough time for a quick bath. She walked on light feet, trying not to creak the floor boards. She reached her armoire and grabbed a fresh pair of clothes that were similar to the ones she had on now and continued tip-toeing to the bathroom, she closed the door with a light click.

A few minutes later, Rick broke above the surface of sleep... the absence of Evelyn in his arms mildly startled him until he heard a tap running in the bathroom. He thought about getting out of the bed and letting Evelyn have her privacy, but he couldn't move... he was only barely awake. Before he could have another thought of trying to get up, he had fallen back into the depths of sleepiness. Evelyn reappeared out of the bathroom near around a half hour later, fully dressed but with her hair quite damp and her feet bare. With hairbrush in hand, she peered around the wall into the bedroom and smiled when she saw Rick still sleeping on top of the covers. After a little while longer, she had her hair dried and brushed (still hanging free without the constraint of a bun, falling gracefully around her face and curling down her back), her stockings pulled on, and her shoes placed on her feet. She glanced at the clock... ten past the hour of eight... she had plenty of time to get to the museum. She grabbed her needed papers off of a small table and then she reached for her glasses and pocketed them. She turned to face the door, but was distracted by Rick's sleeping form. She walked quietly over to the bed and shook him gently. His eyes opened, he smiled when he saw Evelyn. He stretched his body to its full extent and let out a yawn before relaxing back, letting his arms land on his stomach and his eyes settled on Evelyn's smiling face.

"I'm leaving for the museum now..." She said as she sat on the edge of the bed next to him.

"Oh... okay," He said, sitting up so he and Evelyn were facing each other. "Aren't you almost done there?"

"Yes," She nodded, "Should be done today or tomorrow. Listen, you can stay here and sleep for a little while longer if you want to. If you need him, Jonathan will probably be in the bar and I'm not sure when I'll be back, but it will probably be a bit later in the evening."

Rick nodded and said "Ok... but I really didn't need you to tell me Jonathan would be in the bar... I coulda figured that one out myself..." Rick laughed once. Evelyn smiled and laughed as well. She started to get up and leave but before she could Rick had taken hold her arm gently and pulled her in, kissing her once, softly but passionately. Evelyn smiled wider as they broke apart. She kissed him once more, lightly, before they exchanged goodbyes and she left a bit hesitantly. She didn't really want to leave. If time and circumstance would have allowed it, she would have let another day pass, resting happily in Rick's strong arms. But all was well enough, one thought would get her through the long day ahead of her without much difficulty—she would see Rick when she got back. With that thought and a smile, she left for the museum.

Evelyn had been working for hours. When she arrived at the museum earlier that morning, the curator greeted her with some good news: she could probably finish everything up by the end of the evening. Since morning when she had arrived at the museum, she worked tirelessly around the library, making sure everything was in place and making sure no more manual labor was required. The library was now almost fully functional. Just some paperwork, a little filing here, cataloguing there, and she would be done. The strange-looking man who was now the new curator had asked her if she wanted any help before he left. She politely refused and he let her take over his office so she could finish her paperwork in peace and relative comfort. She now sat at the curator's desk, glasses planted on her face as she wrote feverishly, trying to finish before night swallowed the museum along with the rest of Cairo. She finished writing and let the pen drop to the desk as she massaged her wrist... writer's cramp. She watched the sun sink beneath the horizon. She was almost finished, she just had to proofread a few things and file one or two more pieces of meaningless paper and she was out the door, ready to be put to work however the Bembridge fellows saw fit. As she let her hand rest from all that writing, her thoughts began to wander to the only thing she thought about when a spare moment would allow her—Rick. She rested her face in a cupped hand as she stared blankly out the window, thumbing the locket around her neck with her parents' pictures with her other hand. How does this happen? Falling in love was more confusing than library catalogues. She would have never thought, at first glance, that Rick would be the one to steal her heart. Then she remembered the first time she saw him after "saving his neck" at the boat docks before boarding the ship to go to Hamanaptra. She laughed to herself and thought of how stupid she must have looked, gaping at "Mr. O'Connell's" new transformation. She remembered how tough he seemed, a rough exterior she thought she could never penetrate. But somehow she had. He had fallen in love with her somewhere along the line, his characteristic toughness taking a backseat whenever he was with her. She sighed happily as she re-read the forms she had just filled out and then put them in their appropriate place. She gathered up her things, removing her glasses and pushing her hair behind her ear, and left the library... feeling happy for too many reasons to count.

Rick stood outside the Fort Brydon, a bit restless because he had slept for hours on end. The day had been fairly uneventful. He couldn't figure out how Jonathan could drink so much and yet seem perfectly fine the next day, no hangover or anything. He had grown tired of staying inside, listening to Jonathan rail on about God only knows what. He hadn't payed attention to a word that Jonathan had said all day, he was too busy thinking about "other things". He had escaped outside to let himself to think, just to be alone and get lost in his thoughts. Although somewhat preoccupied, he was still fairly aware of his surroundings. It was quite dark, but his eyes had become accustomed to the lack of light. He noticed a stranger who eyed him suspiciously. He disregarded the man because he seemed to pose no threat to him. Rick then heard shuffling behind him, he jerked around and instinctively reached for a gun in one of his sidearms. He relaxed when he saw Jonathan walking calmly towards him.

"You alright, then, old man?" Jonathan said, with a slight note of concern as he patted O'Connell once on his wide shoulder.

"Sure..." Rick nodded.

"So... what exactly are you doing out here? It's bloody cold." Jonathan whined, rubbing his arms as to keep some sort of warmth.

Rick just shrugged. "Thinking..."

"Ah... no need to say anymore. I'll leave you with your thoughts. But don't hurt yourself by thinking too hard"

Rick laughed quietly and shook his head. Jonathan laughed once as well and turned to go back inside, but he was distracted when he saw Evelyn a few yards away walking towards the fort, a few ratty books in hand.

"O'Connell... look," Jonathan grabbed Rick's shoulder and pointed to Evelyn. Rick smiled lopsidedly and started to approach Evelyn. But before Rick could reach her, the stranger he had noticed earlier had caught a glimpse of something gold hanging around Evelyn's neck. The stranger seized the opportunity and began striding towards Evelyn. Neither of them noticed until the man had bumped into Evelyn with a formidable amount of force. She felt a surge of pain travel across her torso as the man had come in contact with her and she dropped the books she was carrying. She felt him snatch the locket, it snapped off her neck and the man began to run. Evelyn held her stomach in pain, then gasped "My locket!" as she felt around her neck, feeling the absence of the only memory of her parents. Rick began stampeding after the strange man, gaining on him quickly... 5 yards... 3 yards... 1... Rick took a great leap and knocked the man over and toppled with him. Rick sat on the man's back and wrestled the gold locket out of his grasp. The man whimpered as Rick got up effortlessly, grabbed the him by the scrap of the neck and threw him forward. The man ran off and out of sight. Rick pocketed the locket as he watched the stranger run with a disgusted look on his face.

"O'Connell!" Jonathan called urgently for Rick. Rick turned around and saw Jonathan kneeling on the ground with Evelyn gathered in his arms. Horror pulsed through him as he ran over to them. As he came closer, he noticed spilled blood covering the sand surrounding the two siblings. Blood was also on Jonathan's hands and arms, soaked over Evelyn's shirt, and also on a knife that was laying a few feet away. His stomach dropped ten feet as he realized the blood was Evelyn's. Rick finally reached them with a panicked look on his face. He knelt beside Evelyn's limp form. Her eyes were still open, but her breathing was short and broken. The blood on her shirt was very concentrated on her left side. Rick parted the torn material of her shirt and exposed her torn torso... a huge, bloody gash ran from her naval and stretched across her stomach, stopping somewhere near her ribs. The stranger who attempted to steal her locket had plunged a knife into her skin when he purposely bumped into her. The knife had slid into her stomach and sliced easily up and around her side. She was now laying in her brother's arms, crimson liquid steadily creeping out of her sliced skin.

"Oh m.." Rick sounded like he was about to be sick...

"Wh... what are we going to do?" Jonathan looked panic-stricken, his baby sister seemed to be dying in his arms. Rick gathered Evy in his own arms, blood now staining his shirt as well.

"Go get help..." he said urgently

"But..."

"GO!" Rick roared. Jonathan ran off quickly without another word. Evelyn coughed violently and Rick held her close.

"Evy, you're gonna be okay..." he said, sounding like he was also trying to convince himself. A mixture of negative emotions now coursed through him. He was upset because Evelyn looked so helpless, angry that somebody would even try to hurt someone like Evelyn, he was overwhelmed. But one emotion conquered them all, fear... he was so afraid that even though he held Evelyn so close, he would lose her again. She was slipping away and he was trying desperately to hold onto her.

"R-Rick," she choked out.

"No... just relax, you're gonna be fine..." he tried to sound calm, but there was a distinct note of panic in his voice.

"I..." she coughed "l-love you..." she coughed again, her breathing becoming more detached as more blood surged out of her torn skin.

"Evy... please..." he was choking up... "don't... you're gonna be fine... don't make it sound like..." He saw her eyes flickering, he was losing her. "No, Evy, I'm begging you... please... don't do it..." He pleaded, but she was still fading. Jonathan returned with a medic close behind him, both running furiously.

"Rick...?" Evelyn sounded pitiful, the life draining from her voice.

"Evy, I've never loved before... don't take her away from me... please..." He was bargaining with a "God" that he wasn't sure existed, but he found himself begging for Evelyn's life. He loved her and wasn't ready to let that go. He saw Evelyn's eyes closing.

"Don't... please... no..." Rick choked out.

The medic might have arrived on time, Jonathan might have saved her life by running faster than he had ever before and retrieving the medic. But Evelyn hadn't known all that. She just felt herself fading out of consciousness, hearing Rick pleading with someone whom she couldn't seem to see. Everything was starting to dim and was becoming black. She wondered peacefully if she was now dying. But she didn't see God... or Jesus... or even a heavenly light. All she saw before blackness completely swallowed her vision was Rick's deep blue eyes, begging her to stay in the world of the living for a little while longer.


	5. Regretting Possibility

Rick sat, looking alone and abandoned, his face partially buried in his hands. Thoughts swallowed him, thoughts that no human being should ever have to experience. He wondered if this is what love was supposed to be. Nothing but a promise broken by circumstance. He then realized that he had never cried before tonight, not that he could remember. He couldn't help but wonder if this would be one of those nights that he would so desperately want to forget, if the outcome would render him alone again. He had heard many stories of love from the French, but he had never really believed that it was something he'd ever be familiar with. He wasn't even sure if he thought love was real. But these once unfamiliar feelings for Evelyn that had begun in Hamunaptra now threatened to haunt him for the rest of his life. He lifted his head out of the small comfort that his hands gave him and looked at Evelyn's lifeless form.

Her upper body was completely swathed. The medic and a woman who had been a nurse in the Great War had done their best to clean her up and now bandages were wrapped around her entire torso, roaming from just below her naval and covering everything between up to her underarms, stopping an inch or two below her collar bone. Her bottom half was clad in a pair of Jonathan's trousers, there was nothing else that could serve to cover her under the circumstances. Even though Jonathan was thin for a man, his trousers were still too loose. The nurse took a braided leather rope and strung it through the belt loops, synching it so that they rested just above her hips, leaving an inch or two of skin shining between the bandages and trousers. Her bare shoulders peeked over the brim of the covers and her arms lay limply over the blankets. Rick looked into her innocent face, expressionless... lifeless. Jonathan was sitting on the opposite side of her bed. They were all in her living quarters at the Fort Brydon, the room had unintentionally turned into a sort of hospital wing for one... Evelyn. Rick realized that Jonathan, for the first time Rick had ever noticed, had a morose expression, his face twisted in silent misery.

"Evy... you can't leave us..." Jonathan's words were choked, full of bereaved heartache, "You just can't..." Rick was sure Jonathan said more, but they were more muffled sobs. He was sure the sentiments he was trying to share with his inert sister were meant only for her to know. Jonathan, who usually bore a jovial expression, now had a sort of melancholy anger burning in his eyes, there was a bitterness that Rick had never seen in him before. Rick watched as Jonathan continued to choke out more expressions that were defiant of Evelyn's possible death. Her dear brother, irresponsible as he was, was now fighting for her by refusing to believe that she would depart from their world. He squeezed Evelyn's hand and continued to whisper defiant encouragement from time to time.

"You're going to be alright, Evy, I know it. You've never let anything else get in your way... I don't see why this has to be any different." His words still mingled with choked sobs, "Call yourself a soldier, Evy, you can make it through..."

Rick looked at Evelyn's face again, new emotions now erupting inside of him. She couldn't die, he wouldn't let her. He reached a hand over and it gently found hers, limp and inanimate. "Hold on, Evelyn..." he heard himself murmur. She couldn't die, she wasn't going to. Even if there was a God or not, it wasn't up to him now. Some might call that blasphemy, but Rick called it love.

Jonathan ended up falling into a uneasy sleep, his unconscious face wrenched in trouble dreams. Rick's eyelids hung over his eyes like a massive weight threatening to crush the bearer. He fought sleep, watching Evelyn, thanking a possibly nonexistent god every time her chest rose in taking breath. Her face held a serene, unknowing demeanor. As if she was just asleep, unaware that every second threatened to bring her soul away from her own world. Rick's vision began to blur as he sat back in the chair positioned beside her bed. Evelyn's innocent face was the last thing he saw before his sleepiness got the better of him.

The light from dawn pried open Evelyn's eyelids, dragging her up from the impending depths of unconsciousness. She found herself looking at the ceiling, unaware of whether she was dead or alive. She realized eventually that her eyes were fixed on the ceiling of her quarters in Fort Brydon. She winced as the pain in her side seared menacingly. The memories of the previous night flooded back to her as her tired eyes began to sting with silent tears, she was feeling insecure and incredibly alone. Her eyes eventually found Jonathan, snoring lightly, looking troubled in his sleep. She looked in the opposite direction and found Rick leaning back in an uncomfortable looking chair, his head lolling off to one side, also sleeping with his eyebrows furrowed. She experienced a pang of the slightest euphoria, realizing that they both must have stayed with her throughout the night. She tried to sit up, but the exquisite pain flaming down her side made her head hit the pillows with a frail yelp. She would never be able to move again. This pain, it was awful. She didn't think she could bear it. She clenched her eyes, praying helplessly for the hurting to abate.

Her yelp had been enough to shake Rick from his light sleep. His eyes opened sleepily, then widened as they saw Evelyn... awake... alive. "Evelyn?" he almost whispered as he got up from the chair and sat on the edge of her bed. Evelyn's ardor for wanting to sit up returned as she tried to push herself up, her body felt heavier than she could have ever remembered. To her relief, Rick's strong hands helped her ease into a sitting position with as little pain possible. She smiled gratefully as she rested her head on his shoulder, her arms tucked neatly under Rick as his arms slid gently around her back, cradling her. Evelyn suddenly felt safe. Anything bad that had previously happened wasn't important. She still rested un-movingly in his arms, fitting perfectly there.

"You scared us..." Rick murmured somewhere above her.

"I'm sorry..." she said, her voice trembling with physical weakness. She nestled her head a bit more into his shoulder, trying to absorb more of the warmth he radiated.

"Don't be," he said, and Evelyn could feel him shake his head slightly. "It was never your fault..." his voice faltered only slightly. Evelyn just nodded, glad to be held. She didn't move much because the pain residing in her torso would sear again. Rick was careful not to move her or hold her in a way that might bring on more of her physical pain. But Evelyn was just glad to be in his arms.

Evelyn heard Jonathan moving around in his chair, mumbling about his troubled dreams, still asleep. She smiled after seeing her brother again, wanting to hear his cheerful, British voice. Rick understood and gently leaned her against the pillows. He got up and shook Jonathan awake.

"Wha... what?" He mumbled sleepily, rubbing his eyes. Rick simply nodded in Evelyn's direction. Jonathan looked, still sleepy-eyed, at Evelyn. And, just as Rick's had, his eyes widened as he took his sister's hand. His face which had previously held a morosely angry demeanor now was shaped into a relieved smiled.

"Evy, you're alright!" Jonathan breathed.

"Yeah..." she said, happily though her voice still shook feebly. "I'm going to be okay."

Jonathan, at hearing this, bore his usual expression of cheeriness. Except now it was mixed with relief and vindication. The three of them sat there for nearly an hour, Rick and Jonathan taking turns making Evelyn laugh and Evelyn telling them how much she appreciated and loved them both. Her face reflected a weak and tired effect, as if she had been put through too much for words. But her eyes lit up with relieved exultation at her brother and Rick. Their conversations were interrupted by a light knocking at the door, and each exchanged curious looks. Who would be knocking? Jonathan sighed and got up to answer the door with a quick promise to return promptly. Rick winked at Evelyn and they exchanged silent smiles as they heard Jonathan open the door.

"Oh... cheers! Hello!" said Jonathan, his voice telling them the visitor was most welcome. But then another voice murmured and Jonathan's tone changed.

"What?" Jonathan said, somewhat surprised.

They heard the door close as the two men had gone to the other side of door out into the hallway. They heard incoherent murmuring and Rick and Evelyn exchanged perplexed looks that soon turned into faint smiles. Rick, who was still sitting on the edge of the bed near Evelyn, put his hand on her cheek and brushed it affectionately with his thumb.

"Just glad you're okay..." he said softly, their eyes finding comfort in one another.

"Thank you." She said, smiling gratefully, amazed that such a strong hand could be so gentle. They heard the door opening again and they both turned their heads in the direction of Jonathan's emitting voice, Evelyn's still resting against the pillows.

"Right... no... thanks..." Jonathan muttered as he closed the door behind him. He reappeared as he crossed the bedroom, looking from Evelyn to Rick, then back to Evelyn again.

"What's wrong, Jonathan?" came Evelyn's weak voice.

"Oh nothing!... nothing..." He lied. It was ironic. You would think that all the years of Jonathan's hijinks and poker playing would render him one of the greatest liars of mankind, especially when trying to conceal when something goes wrong. But this time, his attempt at trying to hide the truth was rather appalling and completely unconvincing.

"You're lying to me..." Evelyn said, her weak voice shaking indignantly. "Who was that?" She insisted

"That was the... er... the medic from last night..."

"Who?"

"He sort of saved you, he and a former nurse cleaned you up and bandaged you."

"Oh..." said Evelyn, sounding somewhat surprised. That didn't sound like horrible news at all. "So... what's wrong then?" Jonathan looked at Rick again and sighed, resignedly. Defeated, he began to reveal what destiny the short conversation with the medic had in store for one, Miss Evelyn Carnahan.

"He came by to see how you were doing, and to see if you had come to... I told him you had and he looked quite a bit relieved."

"So..." voiced Evelyn weakly after Jonathan paused. "I should tell him thank you..."

"Oh no, O'Connell and I took care of that for you. But he said you can't stay here, Evy."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" She said tiredly, the conversations, previous and current, were taking a lot out of her.

"In Egypt... it's too dangerous. He said your gash was one of the worst he had ever seen on a civilian and how relieved he was that you had even woken up. He said that to stay here might mean making things worse for you and that we shouldn't risk it and that you need to get somewhere with some real medical attention, so you can heal properly."

Evelyn had suddenly taken a worried look as she looked at Rick.

"Not stay here? But... Jonathan... where would we...?"

"London, Evy. He said we should go back home... and of the places I listed, he said London was the only safe choice." His eyes fell to the floor, feeling like he had just betrayed his baby sister. Evelyn's eyes were still fixed on Rick, though now they positively burned with anxiety. Rick looked at her unsurely. What did this mean? This was all so sudden and confusing. Surely this didn't mean... that is to say... that he would never see her again? But as a few seconds past, Evelyn realized why Jonathan had not wanted to tell her. They would be leaving Rick behind, assuming that he had made his one and only home in the desert sands of Egypt and that he wouldn't ever leave it. The chaos behind Rick's eyes bellowed a different sentiments, he was silently begging Evelyn to find a way to make it work... to make it to where they could still be together. How hard could it be? How... indeed... hard it could be...


	6. London Tomorrow

Evelyn stared through the dimness of her room at her ceiling, although she didn't really see it. Her eyes had spilled tears over the past few days, especially moments like this when she was alone with her thoughts, drowning in misery. She and her brother would be heading to London tomorrow, and without Rick. She blinked a few more tears out of her eyes as sanity-ridding thoughts flooded her mind. London had never seemed farther away from where she wanted to be. She had begged the medic and Jonathan to let her stay in Cairo, but the medic still stood by what he said. Cairo was too dangerous, Evelyn had to go back to London... and Jonathan could never do anything that could hurt, let alone kill, his baby sister. But what was the point of living if she would be miserable? It was the worst kind of emotional torture... being exposed to love and feeling it with everything you have... just to have it ripped away from you by circumstance. Over the last few days, Rick had spent a few hours with her everyday. Neither of them mentioned London. Evelyn just enjoyed the time with Rick while he was there, but when he left, she always felt empty again. She had reasoned with herself that he could go to London as well. _But he wouldn't want to... _she had told herself. The only thing that was keeping her from asking him was the fear that he would refuse... and that would only prove that maybe he didn't love her after all. Although this thought drove her mad with fear and heartache... she couldn't help but wonder... What if he really didn't love her the way she had loved him... the way she _did_ love him... the way she always would? _But he came back for me... _she thought, suddenly remembering Hamunaptra, Imhotep, and how Rick had come back for her. She remembered what Jonathan had told her in the bar the other day... "_Evy, don't be so naive! What man would be stupid or crazy enough to do a thing like that for a woman unless he loved her?" _A faint smile appeared on Evelyn's beautiful, tear-soaked face. Jonathan had been right, who in their right mind would save a girl from the clutches of a 3000-year-old, cursed, resurrected, evil, immortal mummy unless he loved her. She looked at her bedside table where Jonathan had left the boarding permits for the boat that would take them up the Nile and towards Europe. Her eyes widened... she didn't see two tickets laying there... she saw three. Jonathan had the foresight to buy three boarding permits instead of just two. _Bless him! _She thought as she reached for the third extra ticket and ran her fingers over it. She then wondered if Jonathan had already told Rick about the extra ticket. It was strange that neither of them mentioned it to her. She looked at Jonathan sleeping on a couch positioned next to her bed, snoring. She then looked at the door of her room. She was hurt... but her legs were working properly, weren't they? She could just... walk to Rick's room and give him the ticket. Her faint smile turned into a smirk, her stubborn nature washing away any notes of common sense as she tried to get up. She swung her legs gently off the side of the bed and sat up.

"Ouch!" She yelped, the pain flaring in her side as she got up. _No problem... _she thought as she held her injured side. She was determined to get up and walk to Rick's room to give him the ticket. They were leaving tomorrow morning and it was getting dark. He had already come today, he probably wasn't coming back in here. The chance might not come again. She listened for a moment, she could hear Rick moving around on the other side of the wall... he was still in his room. She got up very carefully, holding her side and grimacing as the gash gave a smarting pain every time she moved. Her feet hit the ground and she pushed her weight forward off the bed carefully. Right... now she was standing. She suddenly felt a draft and shivered slightly. She looked down and remembered that she was only wearing her brother's trousers and bandages around her entire middle and upper body. She reached for her black sweater, which was draped across a nearby chair, and slid it on very cautiously. She slid the extra ticket into her trousers' pocket as she made her way to the door of her room, making small groans of pain with each step. The pain in her side was becoming steadily worse as she walked, but she was adamant... stubborn even against her own health. She reached the door, placed a hand on the nob, turned it and pushed it open. Rick was only one room down the hall.

In Rick's room, his ammunition holder lay packed away in a corner and there was an open bag with clothes randomly and carelessly thrown in. Anyone could see he was packing to go somewhere... only Rick didn't know where. He just knew he wouldn't be staying at Fort Brydon after tomorrow. Evelyn was leaving and it was taking all he had not to break down when he was near her. He sat on his bed next to the open bag, his face buried in his hands. He was in such a vulnerable state that when he heard a light knocking on the door, he was startled. He jerked his head up and looked at the door.

"It's unlocked..." He called to the door, watching it apprehensively. He saw it open, then he heard a small yelp of pain before Evelyn appeared, holding her side and looking thoroughly harassed. "Evelyn?" Rick said without hesitating to get up and help her. He reached her, holding her arm gently with one hand while the other rested on her hip for support. He ushered her into a nearby chair, letting her weight gently slide out of his arms as she sat down. His expression was full of genuine concern as he surveyed her. He knelt down in front of her and looked up at her, his eyes locking on hers. Evelyn's face was still slightly twisted in physical anguish, but when Rick looked at her like that, she returned his gaze.

"Evelyn, what are you doing?" Rick said, eyes burning. Evelyn looked at him. There was something about the way he looked at her... "You could have hurt yourself or reopened your wound..."

"I just wanted to come down here..." she said a bit reluctantly, still clutching her side.

"Evy..." Rick said in a slightly disapproving voice. Without really thinking, he opened her sweater to look at her injury. He smoothed his thumb over the bandages where her incision would have appeared. Evelyn quivered slightly, but not out of pain...

"Rick, I'll be fine..." she said in a voice that tried to sound firm, but all the breath seemed to be gone out of her lungs. "Really..." Rick looked up at her with an unfathomable expression on his face. But there was still something burning in his liquid blue eyes.

"I guess I can't protect you forever..." he said, trying to sound casual. But there was a lump in his throat that ached, having all the telltale signs of heartbreak. Evelyn looked at him strangely, his hands still resting near her hips. They seemed to be frozen in an intense moment of misunderstanding.

"Why not?" Evelyn said, her voice sounding inquisitive and indignant at the same time. Rick's expression turned into a painfully perplexed look.

"Because I can't be with you forever..." Rick said in an unusually small voice.

"You can't? Or you don't want to...?" Evelyn said quietly, her most recent fear of Rick not loving her the way she loved him weighed heavily on her heart. Rick's stomach lurched uncomfortably as he looked at her with an incredulously offended look, his eyes suddenly piercing through her.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, trying not to sound hurt.

"You told me you loved me..." Evelyn said even more quietly, though her voice seemed to be shaking with fearful anger.

"I meant it..." Rick said, wondering what had brought this on...

"Maybe I'm being unreasonable..." Evelyn said, in a voice very unlike her own. She returned his glare full force, staring him down, wanting desperately to know his thoughts. "But I need to know... if you love me the way I love you..." she said, this time a bit more cautiously. Rick's expression hadn't changed much... except now he looked less offended and more curious, wondering where all this had come from.

"I..." he hesitated. He wanted to tell her that he had never felt this way about any one human being before in his life. He wanted to tell her that he did go back to Hamunaptra to save her because he felt for her so strongly. He wanted to tell her that he didn't save her life more than once just because he felt like it... but because he loved her, and ever since the boat trip he had this unexplainable need to protect her. He wanted to tell her all this... because he did, indeed, feel this with all he had. But he didn't know how to tell her... And then again he was afraid that it would hurt worse for her if he did remind her that he did love her. Maybe it was better if she thought that he _didn't _love her... so when she left she wouldn't feel like she was leaving anything behind.

"Evelyn... I don't... I can't... say it..." The words tumbled out of his mouth awkwardly, coming out completely wrong. Evelyn stood up suddenly, meaning to hurl obscenities at him. To tell him how much she had hurt by thinking about this very thing, how she had cried herself to sleep for the past few nights because she was so afraid it was true. But as soon as she stood, she clutched her side and let out an agonizing wail. This pain was unbearable. It burned white-hot, as if a newly heated knife had carved open her new scar again. She couldn't speak... Rick instinctively stood up and gathered her, wrapping her in his arms, wishing desperately that he could stop her pain. Evelyn grabbed at the shirt fabric near his shoulders, clutching his shirt in fist-formed fingers. After a few moments silence, Evelyn's pain seemed to slowly melt away as Rick held her. Pain-induced tears ran down her cheeks and splashed on Rick's shirt, her face was half buried into his shoulder. She lifted her head and tilted it upwards to his ear...

"Rick... I need to know. Don't tell me what you think I want or need to hear... just tell me the truth..." Her voice faltered, new tears threatening to stain Rick's shoulder. Rick tightened his hold around her, gently pulling her a bit closer. He tilted his head towards her to whisper something to her, as she had done to him.

"Evelyn... I love you. I've said it before and I mean it... I'm not sure what else you want me to say." He ran a comforting hand up and down her back as she buried her face back into his shoulder, a faint smile appearing on her face. Rick pulled away slightly so he could look at her, still holding her. He took a hand from around her waist and placed it on her cheek, wiping under her eyes. Evelyn smiled gratefully as his thumb smoothed her tears away. He replaced his hand around her waist and their eyes locked again. .

"Have you ever been to London?" she asked, still sounding as if she might burst into tears at any given moment.

"What?" Rick asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Have you ever been to London?" She said a bit more slowly and slightly more cheerful.

"No..." Rick said, shaking his head, still returning her inquisitive stare, "Why?"

Still in his arms, she pulled the extra ticket out of her trousers' pocket and held it up so he could see it. Rick took it and surveyed it closely before looking back at her.

"Does this mean...?" He broke off as Evelyn nodded her head vigorously, her smile widening.

"Yes! You can go with us... No... You _have _to go with us." She said, her expression becoming a bit more serious. Rick looked at her, then at the ticket, then back at Evelyn again before smiling once more.

"So what is London like?" he said, his heart leaping when he saw Evelyn actually look happy.

"Rainy..." she said, laughing once appreciatively. Rick helped her over to the bed where she sat down. Rick followed suit and sat next to her. The talked for nearly an hour about their journey tomorrow, about London, about how Rick would stay with them (Evelyn insisted) in their deceased parents old four-bedroom flat. Evelyn described the view of the city from the windows. After talking for what seemed like too short a time, Evelyn eventually fell asleep while Rick held her. He gathered her up in his arms and carried her across the room, out the door, and into the hallway. He carried her down the hallway and pushed open the door to her room. Jonathan still lay there, snoring rather loudly on the couch next to Evelyn's bed. Rick pulled back the covers and laid Evelyn down gently before pulling the bed dressings back over her, smoothing the blankets by her side. He smiled as Evelyn slept. Before returning to his own room, he kissed her once and whispered in her ear... "I'll see you in the morning..."


	7. Hold onto a Nightmare

Evelyn found herself riding through the streets of London. She felt Rick's arms around her and realized he was riding the same camel. She smiled and looked over at Jonathan, who was arguing with his own camel about only God knows what. They stopped in front of a large stone building. This must have been where they were heading, because Rick slid off his camel and then helped Evelyn off. Jonathan sort of fell off of his, cursing his animal as it spat on him. Evelyn turned to the camel she and Rick had been riding and stroked its nose affectionately.

"Thank you, Addie, you're a doll."

"Anytime, Evelyn." said the camel with a smile as she and the other turned and walked back down in the other direction of the London streets.

"That Rick seems nice..." said the other camel as they walked down the street, "I had to get the cheeky British one..."

Evelyn turned to Jonathan and gave him a suddenly reproving look...

"Jonathan... you forgot to feed the belly dancers didn't you..."

"Yes... I did..." Jonathan said apologetically.

"Oh, darn it... I'll take care of it when I get back!" Evelyn said angrily. The three of them walked into the huge oak doors of the stone building together and found themselves back in the Fort Brydon. Even though the Fort was located in Cairo and they had just recently ridden down the London roads on the backs of camels just a few seconds ago... this did not seem to phaze them. In fact, they seemed to find it perfectly normal. Rick and Jonathan exchanged strange dialogue indeed. They spoke of self-sweeping floor tiles, irritable psychic horses, and a lizard who would do a dance for you if you gave it a few pounds. Then Jonathan announced that he was leaving...

"I need to have a word with the cat... I think she owes me money from that poker game last night..." said Jonathan as he swept up the stairs. Evelyn shook her with a faint smirk and then turned to look at Rick... only to find that he was not there anymore. He had just disappeared. And while Evelyn didn't find this unusual... she did wonder why. She turned to go back out the oak doors of Fort Brydon. When she reached the outside, everything was gone... no buildings, no people... nothing but miles and miles of endless sand. She turned back around and realized the Fort had disappeared as well.

"This must be the antics of those stupid llamas. Bloody pranksters!" Evelyn said, sounding most unlike herself, "They're not even native to here... think they can waltz in and...". But before she could have another thought of evil pranking llamas from other countries... she felt herself slipping through the sands. First her feet disappeared... then her shins... then her entire legs... then her torso... then her shoulders... then her head. She felt herself hit a hard stone floor... although it didn't hurt at all when she landed. She didn't feel anything except this great urgency to get out of this place... whatever it was. As she picked herself up and looked around... she realized she was in an extremely dark, circular room with hieroglyphs carved into the walls. Her normally inquisitive and curious nature was taking a backseat to a rising sense of fear and foreboding. She didn't want to be here... She felt the floor beneath her begin to spin slowly to the right... As the walls began to slowly spin to the left. She was twirling involuntarily as the floor carried her around, gathering speed with each rotation. She tried to read just a little bit of the ancient Egyptian writing on the wall, trying to find a way out of this nightmarish room. But it was no use.

The room kept spinning faster and faster without any hints of intention to slow down. She felt her fear rise to a brimming point inside of her... like some sort of poison liquid threatening to spill from her body. She was getting weak with dizziness. The room was spinning so fast that the walls were nothing but brownish gray blurs. She felt herself collapse on the swiftly rotating floor, the dizzy feeling worsening when she clenched her eyes shut. Her stomach threatened to turn itself inside out as her limbs threatened to rip themselves off of her body. She felt as if gravity would eventually tear her apart. Then suddenly... the spinning slowed to a halt.

She tried to lift her head and look around... but she couldn't move. Her body had somehow become three times as heavy as before. She heard a raspy, bone-chilling breathing coming from the shadows. The sound seemed to signify morbid feelings in Evelyn... about agony... pain... about death. A pungent smell reached her nose... the smell of rotting corpse. She couldn't lift her head to see what was producing this deathly smell... but she had a good idea what it might be. It came closer as the fear inside her brimmed to a breaking point. She couldn't contain the tears as they spilled silently down her checks... it kept coming closer... and closer until she could hear it's ragged breathing just above her. She unclenched her eyes and the most horrible site she had ever seen looked down upon her tear-soaked face. The hideous face that she had worked so hard to send back to the underworld... looking down at her with Mr. Burns' eyes...

Evelyn jerked awake... she found herself in her bed, covered in cold sweat. The room was dark and cold, she could hear a deep, nasal breathing somewhere off to her right. Common sense slowly crept back into her confused mind. The gash in her side smarted threateningly... a painful reminder that she was still alive. Her heart was beating fast... it wouldn't slow down. Her breathing mirrored her the hurried meter of her heart. She was panicking, she couldn't get herself to calm down. She needed light, some kind of indication that she wasn't alone in this dark room. Even though she knew Jonathan was there... his horrible snoring was no help at all. The uncertainty of what might lay in the shadows... the almost deafening silence only broken by Jonathan's snores... the suffocating darkness of the room...

She pushed herself up on her arms and got out of the bed as quickly as she could. She stumbled as soon as her feet hit the floor. She picked herself up, still breathing rapidly, clutching her chest. She hobbled through the darkness painfully, narrowly missing walls and pieces of furniture. She wasn't sure what she was doing, she just wanted to get out of this blackness. The dark face of the resurrected Imhotep still loomed over her open eyes. The tears began welling up, threatening to spill down her cheeks. She ran into something hard... and stumbled backwards slightly. She felt a doorknob and turned it quickly, practically throwing herself out of the dark room. She hit the opposite wall very hard and slid down onto the ground, her long dark hair falling like a curtain over her face. She couldn't contain the emotion anymore... she was now in much physical grief on top of being so shaken by a simple nightmare. But it wasn't just a simple nightmare... it was a mixture of her oldest and newest worst fears. The tears she was fighting so desperately to hold back came marching down her face... and they did not come silently. She heard a door open... "Evelyn?"

Rick had heard a crash outside in the hallway and had swiftly gotten out of bed to investigate. When he had opened the door he saw Evelyn, the curves of her small body spilled out onto the floor. He heard sobs and her shoulders were shaking violently.She was crying.Without hesitation, he hurriedly approached Evelyn's crying form and knelt beside her. He ran a hand along her forehead to slide the hair out of her face. He surveyed her, a curious unease reflected in his eyes. Evelyn felt his hand move her hair off her face to reveal a shirtless Rick, looking tousled with sleep.

"Evelyn... what happened... what's wrong?" He said, still surveying with concerned eyes. Evelyn looked up at him, glad to see a face over her that was not decaying and smelling of death. She took a deep breath and felt her heart slow down significantly.

"I... I had... a... a dream," she managed to whimper.

"Oh..." Rick sounded a bit surprised... "Was it that bad?"

Evelyn nodded, feeling the tears threatening to charge again. Rick looked at her sympathetically. He grabbed the back of her arms gently and began to help her up. She grabbed his supporting forearms gratefully. After she was on her feet, Rick looked at her and smiled his lopsided smile, it radiated comfort and reassuring. He wiped away her few remaining tears with his thumb and wrapped her in his muscular arms. She brought her hands around the back of his neck and rested her arms on his bare shoulders, her chin catching the curve in his neck. She felt her heart beat begin to rise again... but this time for different reasons. She could feel his bare skin with her hands for the first time. She had suddenly realized that the only thing between the two of them were the few thin layers of bandaging around her injured torso. He held her tightly, she could feel every single muscle in his abdomen and chest pressing against her... every muscle lining his arms and shoulders around her, giving an electric quality against her skin. She could feel his hands around her waist... suddenly not believing that they were this close. He gave off a comforting scent of clean linens. She could hear the natural noises his body made... she could feel his chest move up and down when he breathed and she could feel his heart beating... strong and steady. The moment was almost surreal. Her breath was caught in her throat. Rick pulled away slightly and looked at her, meaning to ask if she was going to be alright. But then he caught sight of her bright green eyes that always seemed to catch him off guard. Now that wasn't really fair. Without much warning, they're lips were together, locked in an intense kiss. Evelyn felt Rick's fingers press slightly into her lower back as she did the same on his shoulders... the passion progressing between them growing with each passing second. She returned his kiss earnestly as he pulled her a bit closer, making it to where there wasn't even an inch of space between them. When the kiss finally ended, their lips pulled apart slowly. She rested her forehead against his... frozen in a moment of intense passion, wanting to stay there and never leave his arms.

They stood there for a few minutes, both breathing a bit harder than they had before. Evelyn wondered if she was still dreaming... still in the presence of his awe-inspiring muscular build. Rick forearms rested at the base of her back and his hands stood un-movingly on her hips.

"You going to be alright?" he said softly, looking down at her. Evelyn nodded. "Then let's get you back to bed..." he said, beginning to lead her back to her room, still keeping a hand on her hip for support. She kept a hand on his muscular shoulder as they walked. Rick opened the door and led her in. He pulled back the covers as he had earlier that night and helped her into bed. Once she was in, he pulled the covers back over her and then leaned over her, resting on arms placed on either side of her body.

"'Night,"

"Good night..." Evelyn said, returning his smile. Even in the dark, his amazing blue eyes shown through the shadows to look down at her. His lips found hers again. She was surprised at how wonderfully strange it felt. They hadn't really been this physically close since she was attacked outside of the fort. Maybe strange wasn't the word for it... it definitely wasn't bad. His lips were just welcoming more... she returned the kiss again, her hands fell sensually on his face, her thumbs caressing his jaw line. She hadn't realized how impossible it seemed to love someone this much. He pulled up slowly, breaking the kiss gently.

"'Night..." he whispered once more.

"I love you..." Evelyn said, somewhat unexpectedly. But she had to say it. It was one emotion that was literally pulling her heart in twelve different directions. Rick looked at her intently for a few moments before that smile reappeared on his face... just visible in the dark.

"I love you, too..." he said, the words sounding a bit awkward... but at least he meant them. "Get some sleep... alright?"

Evelyn nodded and watched his bare back disappear into the shadows as he left. She heard him close the door behind him and turned over and fell asleep... they'd be going to London later that morning...


	8. London, Here We Go

Evelyn could hear Jonathan bustling around the room later that morning, packing away their last bit of belongings before leaving for the ship that would take them up the Nile. The journey to London would be a series of boat trips and train rides. Evelyn knew it wouldn't be easy on her. She kept her eyes closed, trying to enjoy the calming silence for a while longer before Jonathan awoke her and brought her back into the real world. She rested and let her thoughts wander as Jonathan, for once in his life, did all the work. Jonathan's hand shook Evelyn's shoulder a few moments later.

"Come on, I know you're awake!" He said, a small chuckle hanging around his words. Evelyn smiled and then sat up.

"You know me too well, you cheeky little git." She said, hugging his neck

"Well, good morning to you too!" He said sarcastically, returning her hug sincerely. They parted and Evelyn looked at Jonathan with a smile that had the slightest hint of uneasiness.

"You ready?" She asked

"As soon as you're dressed, we're out of here."

Evelyn sighed resignedly and slid out of bed, "Give me a moment or two, I'll be out in a minute."

Jonathan nodded and headed out the door, attempting to take the luggage with him. After a few moments of him struggling with the load, he finally shut the door. Evelyn sighed once more and moved uneasily to her armoire. She dressed herself carefully, using a chair for support through the process. She slid on her skirt and belted it. After putting on her shirt carefully, she slid on her shoes and began wobbling towards the door.

She met her brother out in the hallway and began looking around for Rick.

"Where's...?"

"He's down in the bar waiting. You ready?"

"Yes."

She followed her brother downstairs and met Rick in the bar, just where Jonathan had said he'd be. Getting up to help with their bags, Rick smiled once at Evelyn and heaved a bundle of luggage under his arm and began walking towards the door. Jonathan and Evelyn followed to the car where Rick stacked Evelyn's trunk in the back seat and laid Jonathan's bag on top of it. He threw his bag in next and then turned to Evelyn.

Evelyn had been caught in a state of deep though and Rick's abrupt turn startled her. Her green eyes darted upwards, stopping only when they met with his. They shared a small smile and Evelyn suddenly felt strange. For a moment, it felt like it was before. Before Rick had rescued her from a dead city's curse, before Jonathan had stopped swiping his stuff, before they knew each other. He was so rough and unclean. But she remembered those blue eyes. Before all of this, that is what she knew of him. And after everything, she finally knew what it meant when he looked at her like that. And why she couldn't look away.

Rick gently bundled her in his arms one more time before helping her into the car. The routine was startling, moving on to the next part of his life but with a partner. Maybe even a family. The thought never appealed to him much, at least not before. He always saw himself as alone, dependent on no one but himself. He smiled once and stepped into the car after Evelyn as Jonathan drove to the docks.

After arriving at the docks, Rick got out of the car and the turned to ease Evelyn out of the seat. Evelyn had never been one to let someone help her. As fragile as she might have appeared, she could handle herself. If not in a camp site in an ancient Egyptian city with curses flying about, ressurected mummies playing in the tombs, and gunfire richocheting in the near distance... she could at least manage to get out of a car on her own. And even though she was hurt, normally she would not let a man help her out of a car. A man may be stronger but she could read and write ancient Egyptian! Decipher glyphic AND hieratic! But that didn't matter anymore. At least not towards how she felt with Rick. Even back when he was O'Connell, she would let him help her. Maybe because she felt he needed to save someone, maybe he HAD to be the protector. Or maybe she just loved him enough to give in, and let herself be loved as well.

Rick helped Jonathan unload the car and then tried to usher them towards the small ship now docked on the bank. Jonathan resisted, looking back at the car with a sad glimmer dancing in his eyes. That was his car! The only thing concrete to his possession, even if he did maybe steal it.

"Jonathan!"

"HOLD ON!" He begged, his voice cracking and choking. He put a hand on the car and caressed the car's scratched and battered surface.

"Goodbye, old girl. Maybe in the next life..."

Rick and Evelyn looked at each other, and with a slight roll of their eyes they let Jonathan finish his passionate goodbye with the machine.

After Rick finally managed to lure Jonathan away from the car which they were abandoning there, he carried the majority of the luggage (including Evelyn's trunk), walking behind Evelyn to make sure she had the least amount of trouble possible. She struggled up the ramp, but she fought to make it up to the barge. When she finally reached the deck, she let out a huge sigh of pain and accomplishment. Rick smiled as he came up on the deck behind her, that was his girl.

They got their luggage situated and the modest ship departed from the dock heading up the river. Jonathan had taken to playing cards with anyone who would sit down with him. It helped him pass the time. Evelyn was sitting near the edge on the upper deck, looking at the water splashing against the sides of the small vessel. She contented herself with finding a rhythm with the waves and matching it with her thoughts. She felt two large hands fall on her shoulders. She placed her own on top of Rick's and leaned her head back against his torso, taking comfort in his very solid presence.

"How're you holding up?"

"I'm holding." She said with a small smile, the fatigue in her voice growing.

"Did you want to go lay down?"

"No... It's calmer up here. I was going to sit for ahwhile."

"Do you want me to go?"

"Are you mad?"

Rick smiled and sat beside her, seeing the content look on her face. He carefully wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into an embrace.

"So I guess this is the next step?" Rick said, a small bit of uncertainty lingering in his words.

"I wouldn't say steps... more of a drunken attempt at dancing." Evelyn said playfully. Rick laughed, finding comfort in her humor, which was still something he wasn't quite used to yet.

"Right," he said

"Right," she agreed.

"Here we go." Rick said as Evelyn's head fell on his shoulder. He thought one more time about the desert they were leaving behind and the safety of sameness that it had held for him for so long. The only constant he had. Then he thought about the uncertainty he was heading for, and the confidence he had for the outcome.

_Here we go._ He thought as Evelyn fell asleep in his arms.

End.


End file.
